G.R.A.S.P.

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Has anyone else heard of or contacted this organization?

http://www.grasp.org/


Looks really interesting!

Thanks for posting this. I've never heard of this group, but the little bit that I've read so far looks interesting. Always good to know of good resources!

This looks pretty good. Thanks!

I joined briefly and then dropped out again. To be perfectly honest, I found it quite alarming. It didn't seem like it was being run by people on the spectrum - too efficient. But I don't know. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

I'm not sure I'm joining or anything but I'll keep that in mind. Thanks

I've been active in the Philadelphia area chapter for a while now and really value the connections I've made. GRASP is a national support and advocacy organization that aims to be sort of the autism spectrum's equivalent of the NAACP.

It really was started and has been run almost entirely by autistics, despite being well-organized. (We're allowed to have a certain percentage of NT's in the leadership, per the bylaws, but I forget the exact number. NT's are a very small minority, though, both in the national leadership and at local meetings). In terms of the leadership and philosophy, it's kind of the anti-Autism Speaks.

I joined shortly after my official dx and found the most accepting and diverse group of people I'd ever met. If there is a local chapter in your area, I'd recommend checking out a support or social meeting. But, if there's not and you don't feel up to the task of starting one yourself, you can at least join the email list, which is helpful for staying up-to-date on issues affecting the community.

I joined. Looks good! Thanks for posting it!

http://www.autismspeaks.org/press/grasp ... speaks.php

This could be a good thing rather than a bad thing however, Alex. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all comes out. It seems that GRASPs concept is a little more on the "we all need to learn to live together" side of things rather than on the "let's cure all those pesky autistics" which is a huge platform of autism speaks.

We can all only advocate for ourselves and our own beliefs. So, we must do the best we can to meet the ends that make our world a better place.

It would be good to visit the "Articles and Interviews" section on grasp.org to read the "Articles of Understanding" from a few years ago that Alex was referring to. Unfortunately, they didn't lead to much understanding. At best, we seemed to have to agree to disagree.

I think that MJC's article was good, though, and I'm happy we got the opportunity to expose Autism Speaks members to such a viewpoint. Part of me would like to see more constructive dialogue, although I don't feel it will lead too far. Obviously, it's hard to have much constructive dialogue with those who'd like to people like us not to exist.

But, I work for an agency that serves people with disabilites--all forms of disability--and I see regularly that there are a lot of other groups that are light years ahead of the autism community in terms of services and acceptance from the general public. I feel that this is in part--although not entirely because of--the fact that we fight so much internally. I don't think it was bad for GRASP to attempt some dialogue, maybe just overly idealistic.

I joined G.R.A.S.P just now.